National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Satellite Operations Facility

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION SATELLITE OPERATIONS FACILITY Suitland, Maryland NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION SATELLITE OPERATIONS FACILITY Suitland, Maryland 04 Architecture for Monitoring Earth and Sky 13 Light and Landscape Penetrate the Interiors 20 General Facts About the Building 26 Biography: The Architect 31 The Design and Construction Team 35 U.S. General Services Administration and the Design Excellence Program 2 3 ARCHITECTURE FOR MONITORING EARTH AND SKY From issuing tornado warnings that have the satellites are housed within a slender, saved hundreds of lives to measuring horizontal bar raised above the ground the depth of polar ice caps, the National and crowned by antennae and satellite Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration equipment. Below the control facility, (NOAA) plays a crucial role in monitoring administrative offices are placed in and preserving our environment. Its new a disc-shaped, underground concrete satellite control facility advances this structure, topped by a “green” roof mission by providing offices and technical resembling a grassy field. space for NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service In addition to identifying the dual (NESDIS), which manages the collection, functional roles of the building, this processing, and distribution of information physical separation allows the satellite related to weather and climate. operations building, which has limited access, to function round-the-clock, every The 208,000-square-foot building is day of the year, independently of the located on 15.6 wooded and grassy acres support offices. In architectural terms, within the Federal Center in Suitland, the separation explicitly expresses the two Maryland, just outside Washington, DC. missions of the building—the gathering The architect took advantage of the site to and the processing of information— preserve the environment while providing through a striking juxtaposition of a highly sophisticated infrastructure for architectural forms. satellite operations and data processing. The most visible structure is the three- Divided into two distinctive components, story, 47,000-square-foot bar building the facility symbolizes NOAA’s mission dedicated to the control and operations of to monitor sky and earth by blurring the satellites and associated data processing. the boundaries between architecture and Its long, horizontal façades are clad in landscape. Technical functions related to panels of corrugated aluminum and cement 4 fiberboard to convey a machinelike feeling the southern end of the control facility, sympathetic to the building’s technical and large metal letters spelling out “NOAA” scientific activities. The fiberboard panels, create an iconic identity for the stewards applied in a staggered pattern, cover the of this 21st century facility. entire east façade and are punctuated by several horizontal strip windows. On the Extending underneath the sleek control upper portion of the west façade, they are building, the administrative office block applied over an outwardly angled metal truss. acts as a foundation, both literally and figuratively, to support the satellite This truss is part of an exposed steel operations. Built of concrete, the sunken superstructure supported on large, splayed mat foundation and upper walls curve legs that extend to either side of the outward to extend into the landscape control tower’s main volume. The dynamic under a grassy berm punctured by circular framework, with its built-in staircases, skylights and rectangular garden courtyards. jutting angles, and exposed satellite At the southwestern edge, the concrete equipment, appears reminiscent of the structure rises above ground to reveal scaffolding around rocket launch pads. a band of windows tracing its curve. It boldly announces NOAA’s mission to monitor the Earth from space. Most of the structure remains beneath the earth to merge with the landscape, a gesture The steel superstructure also serves a representative of NOAA’s environmental vital purpose in supporting and providing stewardship. Creating the berm over the access to the antennae that pitch and subterranean office block required building sweep to receive information from NOAA’s up the roof from layers of waterproof satellites in space. The building contains membranes, insulation, drainage boards, high-technology equipment, including 16 and lightweight soil. Planted over this antennae that control more than $3 billion roof around circular skylights and garden in environmental satellites. Emerging from courtyards are grasses and native plants 5 to create an expanse of green. The only projecting structure in this field is a small concrete and glass pavilion at the northeast corner, which houses an emergency exit stair from the subterranean office area. Along its front, west-facing side, the office block is cut away to reveal a vehicular ramp to the 284-space parking garage underneath the building and an adjacent service area. Next to the garage entrance, a plaza provides a place for cranes to hoist the satellite equipment onto the roof. On the southern edge of this space, a concrete pedestrian ramp extends from an on-grade, 56-space visitor parking lot to the main entrance on the upper floor of the office wing. Site Plan 6 Section View 7 8 9 The siting of the building in the ground, under a landscaped green roof, is a performance-based move that not only improves energy efficiency in real terms but also educates the public and embodies the federal government’s commitment to sustainability. Thom Mayne Architect, Morphosis 10 11 12 LIGHT AND LANDSCAPE PENETRATE THE INTERIORS The entrance is tucked into the side of the translucent polycarbonate on walls and building’s front porch, an outdoor vestibule ceilings to transmit daylight while still sheltered by a canopy finished in metal maintaining privacy. mesh, which extends inside the building to form the ceilings in the public areas. Sections of the office floor that are Just beyond the front door is a 15,000- underground are also designed to provide square-foot area of public spaces. The access to light and views. Four outdoor, secure lobby with its concrete floors leads glass-enclosed courtyards are strategically to several conference rooms with angular inserted into the expanse of the office floor windows and a separate elevator lobby for to filter daylight into the two-story space. access to the satellite control facilities in Landscaped with raised concrete planters the above-ground structure. and gingko trees, they bring an element of nature inside the building and ensure Stretching eastward, the 146,000 square feet that every employee is no further than of open office areas are arranged around a 60 feet away from a window. At the front square, two-level ring of shared support and of the building on this level, a cafeteria meeting rooms at the center. Steel staircases, and an exercise room are arranged around finished in stainless-steel and aluminum, a fifth courtyard that extends along the provide access from the double-height office entrance ramp. areas to the upper level of this support ring. Sunlight also permeates the subterranean The 14-foot-high southwestern perimeter level through 21 circular, domed skylights of the office floor is enclosed in a tall, in the ceiling, which is supported by curving window wall that filters natural concrete columns. Augmenting this natural light into the open space. Within this illumination are ceiling-mounted compact area, private offices and conference rooms fluorescent light fixtures fitted into custom are treated as freestanding structures to metal grids. This grid pattern is also echoed partition the larger, main space. These in the carpet tiles covering the access one-story volumes are framed in panels of flooring throughout the office areas. 13 14 15 16 17 18 Above the open offices, the concrete ceiling On the third floor below the control subtly curves upward to 23 feet to form rooms, racks of supercomputers and other a broad, shallow dome. This curvature, equipment are arranged on an open floor formed by the underside of the green roof, to support the sophisticated networks is meant to simulate the earth’s curvature required of NOAA’s satellite missions. as seen by satellites orbiting in space. Large The building is also fitted with electrical murals of satellite imagery mounted on generators for emergency operations, the walls throughout the offices surround crucial to this 24/7 mission critical facility. the employees with stunning images of the fruits of their own work. Rising from the office wing, a five-level satellite operations block is arranged around a two-story Satellite Operations and Control Center on the north side of its uppermost levels. This command center with its wall of electronic display screens serves as the “brain” of the facility. Wrapping around its perimeter on the upper level is a glass-enclosed observation room, which also provides a view of another control room adjacent to the main operations center. NOAA primarily uses this smaller, two-story operations space, which also features a built-in display wall, when its satellites are launched into space. 19 GENERAL FACTS ABOUT THE BUILDING The National Oceanic and Atmospheric The purpose of NOAA’s new satellite Administration was formed in 1970 as control facility is to provide timely access an organization within the Department to global data related to weather and of Commerce. NOAA brought together climate. The complex is home to NOAA’s some of the oldest agencies in the federal National Environmental Satellite, Data, government. They include the U.S. Coast and Information Service (NESDIS), which and Geodetic Survey, a descendent of the manages the collection, processing and country’s first physical science agency; the distribution of data and images produced Survey of the Coast, established in 1807 by satellites. The prime client for this by President Thomas Jefferson; the U.S. information is NOAA’s National Weather Weather Bureau, established in 1870; and Service, which uses it to create forecasts the U.S.

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